Quebec's fantastical reactions to Catalonia's secession attempts

William Johnson: Reacting to Catalonia’s reckless attempt at secession, Quebecers have displayed their own confusion about how secession can be achieved

People wave "estelada" or pro independence flags in Barcelona, Spain, after Catalonia's regional parliament passed a motion with which they say they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017.AP Photo/Santi Palacios

Reacting to Catalonia’s reckless attempt at unilateral secession, Quebecers have displayed their own confusion about how secession could or could not be achieved in Quebec. Here, ambiguity reigns.

Louis Bernard, the former chief of staff to separatist Premier René Lévesque, published an article in Le Devoir recentlyin which he claimed that, in Canada, unlike in Spain, victory in a referendum would lead seamlessly to an independent Quebec. “Comparing the situation of Quebec with that of Catalonia, the commentators have emphasized how fortunate it is that the right of Québec to choose democratically its constitutional status is recognized both by Canada and the rest of the world,” he said.

Meanwhile, Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée put all the blame for the violence that is now occurring between Spanish police and citizens on the Spanish government. Lisée praised the democratic character of the Catalan referendum, and denounced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for not speaking out against the violence. Lisée has proposed a motion in Quebec’s National Assembly to denounce the violence and urge international mediation, thus echoing the call of Catalan President Carles Puigdemont.

Quebecers have displayed confusion about how secession could be achieved in Quebec

Other separatist leaders followed the same line. Bloc Québécois leader Martine Ouellet, who was in Barcelona for the referendum, tweeted her disgust at the “deafening silence” of the Canadian government. Her party tried unsuccessfully to introduce a motion in the House of Commons to condemn the Spanish government’s “violent repression.”

And the left-wing separatist party Québec Solidaire tried to introduce a motion in the National Assembly that would have recognized Catalonia’s eventual independence. It failed to get sufficient votes to be accepted for debate.

And what about the “federalist” Liberal Party of Quebec, led by Premier Philippe Couillard? He chooses federalism, yet maintains that Quebec has an unfettered right to secede should Quebecers so choose, because Quebec is a nation.

Couillard refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the 1982 Constitution Act

On June 1, 2017, with great fanfare, the premier released a 177-page document detailing his party’s new constitutional policy. Titled Quebecers: Our way of being Canadian, it contained three passages that claimed Quebec is free to choose any status. It notes, for instance, that “Quebec is free to make its choices and able to take control of its destiny and its development. Quebec possesses all the characteristics of a nation and recognizes itself as such.”

The document also refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the 1982 Constitution Act, which patriated Canada’s constitution and entrenched the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That act, which was supported by nine provinces and fulfilled the conditions set out by the Supreme Court of Canada, was rejected at the time by premier René Lévesque, and has been rejected by every Quebec premier since. Keeping with this tradition, Couillard’s document affirms the Quebec government’s continued opposition to the Constitution Act of 1982.

Pressed by the Parti Québécois to denounce the violence exercised by the Madrid police on the Catalan voters, and to back the Catalan government’s call for international arbitration, Couillard’s Liberals agreed to a consensus motion presented by Jean-François Lisée that is backed by all National Assembly parties.

The motion places all the blame for the violence on the Spanish government

The motion places all the blame for the violence on the Spanish government. It does not acknowledge that Spain’s court ruled, on Oct. 1, that Catalonians’ referendum was unconstitutional, or that the Spanish government was in fact trying to uphold the rule of law. The scenes of violence alone motivated the lawmakers of Quebec to concern themselves with the affairs of another country. What motion would they have adopted had they witnessed Abraham Lincoln’s measures to quell the secession of the Southern states?

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Quebec does not have a right to secede. Secession is a possibility, but it would require the consent of the other provinces and the federal government and the adoption of an enabling amendment to the Constitution. And the conditions of secession would also need to recognize the rights of Quebec’s 11 Aboriginal nations, when the parties set the boundaries of a proposed independent Quebec.

But, in Quebec, no problem. Secession is viewed from Cloud Nine. What happened in Catalonia could never happen here, of course.